


Darkness

by Lianria



Series: Thank you for your Service [7]
Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Assumptions of Cheating, Depression, F/M, feelings of self loathing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-05
Updated: 2019-10-05
Packaged: 2020-11-24 14:09:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,705
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20908934
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lianria/pseuds/Lianria
Summary: Arya and Gendry deal with some of the aftermath of her injuries, Podrick is an innocent bystander





	Darkness

Arya sat on the end of the couch, staring into the void of the dark living room. Nymeria and Mors cuddled up as close to her as they could, heads resting on her lap calmly as she absentmindedly scratched behind their ears.

  
It had been seven months since the accident, five since she was discharged after much deliberation. The first few months had been the hardest, the PTSD, the nightmares, the counseling, the surgeries to finish repairing the damage to her shoulder, the casts and the gods damned itching. The day she was finally freed from the casts and braces and wrappings, she scrubbed herself raw to get rid of the ever present itch of the dead skin. She'd almost ripped the few stiches she still had before Gendry had climbed in the shower fully clothed to take her loofa away, gently pulling her out of the then cold water.

  
He had been a saint through all of this, quietly ensuring Arya followed doctors orders whether she wanted to or not. He worked from home or her hospital room. He conned Robb into taking over his coaching duties for the kids whenever he would need to miss to be with her. Arya had the big "get well soon" card the girls had made for her framed over her new desk in the front area of Robbs office, her military linguistics coming in handy in his political dealings. Plus as a fellow veteran, and her brother, she didn't have to worry about any issues when she would have 'spells' from her PTSD and it helped make Robb's work with the Veteran Coalition much more visible. Gendry had been so proud of her.

  
One month ago the blowout finally happened.

  
Arya had seen it coming for a while. The stress of her healing, and working, and the family, was slowly getting to them. Added to the fact that they hadn't had sex since she was deployed. Between her healing, and the frankly ridiculous amount of antibiotics she had been on rendering her hormonal birth control useless and Gendry's recently discovered Latex allergy, the closest the two got to physical affection was holding hands and hugging. Then came the issues at work, Gendry was assigned a massive project renovating the entire mechanical mainframe of the Red Keep down in Kings Landing. Arya had been so proud of him, watching as he headed the team while working on the design from her hospital room. He had to go down for a week to oversee the implementation, and Arya was thrilled for this opportunity for him. She missed him, but she knew this was a great thing for him, and with everything he had sacrificed while taking care of her, he deserved to show off his skills.

  
It had never occurred to her that something had happened while he was down there, until she was unpacking his clothes to wash before heading into work herself.

  
One of his shirts smelled like perfume, and there was a faint trace of lipstick on inside of the collar. She left the shirt laying on the bed and went straight to the office.

Robb knew something was wrong and texted Gendry asking if they had fought, he never responded. By Lunchtime, Arya's mood had shifted and her mind had wandered to the darkest place it had ever been. _Gendry had an affair_. Logically she knew it didn't make sense, and that she needed to talk to him, but in the midst of a depressive episode logic took a flying leap off the nearest tall object. She had texted him repeatedly with no answer, all of the messages showing as read. Her calls immediately going to voicemail, not that she left one.

  
_He's ignoring me now? _The darkness swirled ever darker and pulled her further in._ He didn't have an affair, not past tense. He's having an affair. He's going to leave me. I'm too damaged. He's found someone better._

Robb could see Arya spiraling, he knew how insecure she had been over the last few weeks, but whatever had happened this morning, it was progressing quickly. He needed Gendry here, Now. Robb called in his security detail and asked Podrick Payne to stay with her while he tracked down his brother in law. Podrick was more than happy to do so, he liked Arya a lot. She was funny, and smart, and made the best hot chocolate.  
It took a bit, but Robb was finally able to reach Gendry. At their cellphone carrier store.

* * *

  
Gendry missed his wife, he missed her smile. Her real smile, not the forced fake one she had been wearing since her discharge. She had soldiered through all of the surgeries, the physical therapy, the terror of looking for work, proving that she deserved her new job with Robb's office because of her skills not because she was his sister. He knew that being cooped up for so long while she recovered had been driving her mad, knew that if he had fawned over her like he desperately wished to she would kill him. He wasn't surprised when she pushed for him to take the project on the Red Keep. He knew she hated feeling like he was putting things off to take care of her, so he worked while he was with her. He knew the week he was gone that something would have to give when he got back. He missed his wife, laying beside her every night not touching was driving him mad. He knew it had to be just as bad as for her. Arya was physical, she was always touching him in some way. She was fully healed, given the all clear, but both were finding the awkward habit of being overly cautious far to hard to break. He missed her to the point of distraction while he was gone, and her welcome home hug, while distant, felt like a gift from the gods.

  
She was pulling away from him and he couldn't figure out what to do.

  
He'd dropped his phone that morning, the screen going black refusing to respond to a reset and had been stuck out in the field all day on a smaller project until he was able to swing by and get a new phone. As he walked out the door a call came in from his office, Robb was looking for him, had been trying to call him all day. He ignored the multiple messages coming in all at once and called his brother in law's office line. He had been heading back to his office, but the words "Arya" and "Somethings wrong" sent him speeding in their direction.

He made it to the window outside the office, when he saw them. Arya was crying, in Podrick Payne's arms. Clinging to him as she rested her head on his shoulder her face turned towards his neck. Payne was holding her tightly, arms wrapped around her shoulders, whispering to her softly. He kissed her forehead, and Arya didn't pull away and something in him snapped. Gendry had slammed the door open with all the tact of a rampaging bull and stormed over towards the pair. Arya looked up and the pain and anger in her eyes had been staggering. Few words were said as Robb gently handed his sister her bag and ushered the pair out the door, the ride home was silent.

  
Arya put the dogs out to potty, while Gendry stomped into their bedroom to change. The dress shirt on the bed caught his eye, he picked it up right as Arya walked in. The argument was immediate and explosive, accusations of cheating, the perfume, Podrick kissing her on the forehead, the complete lack of intimacy between them, telling the other they would let them go if they were so unhappy no matter how much they loved them. The thought of losing the other was so devastating and the pair ended up in a sobbing, snotty mess on the floor, their walls boasting a few new holes. The explanation had been simply, one of Gendry's colleagues, Pia, had been soaked at a business dinner when a waiters tray had toppled over her. As they were leaving, Gendry had offered her his shirt to cover herself until they reached the hotel and she had simply returned it the next day. The lipstick was from her pulling the shirt over her head in the small ladies room stall. The perfume had been the result of the bottle being knocked over and spilling onto the clothes on the bathroom floor. Podrick was happily in a relationship with two other people, they were simply friends and he was attempting to reassure her that Gendry would sooner chew off his own legs than be unfaithful to her.

  
Once the tears had subsided the two had cleaned up, changed into pajamas and finally let the dogs in. Curled up on the couch, the pair cuddled, which lead to kissing, which lead to touching, which led to Gendry scooping his wife into his arms and managing to get the door to their room closed before Mors and Nymeria managed to follow them.

* * *

  
And now here she was a month later. Sitting quietly in the dark, the dogs snuggled as close to her as they could. Waiting for Gendry to get home.

  
"Arry? Babe? You home?"

"In here Gen."

  
"Why are the lights... what's wrong?" Gendry immediately dropped to his knees in front of her. The memory of the last time the darkness had pulled at her at the forefront of his mind. He couldn't let her go back to that, now when he knew what that darkness was like.

  
Arya lifted a shaking hand to cup his face, a small smile crossing her lips.

  
"You love me right?"

  
"Always have Arya. Since the first day I saw you. Now please tell me what's wrong. I know you've been feeling weird for a few days now. Please talk to me."

  
Arya's smile grew as she leaned forward to press her forehead against his, her grey eyes locked with his blue, her other hand reaching around behind him.

  
For a pair of little white sticks.

  
"I'm pregnant."


End file.
